Assoc. Prof Thierry GEOFFRE

Thierry Geoffre is Associate Professor of Teaching and Learning French in Pre- and Primary School at the Department of Education and Social Work

Thierry has studied the acquisition of grammatical spelling and the transfer of grammatical reasoning to text production situations (French as the language of instruction). His work is based on a praxeological approach to language acquisition and has led him to propose a scenario for the development of spelling competence.
In recent years, his research has focused on didactic tools using educational technologies, including thinking about the learner’s and teacher’s interfaces, and artificial intelligence to drive adaptive learning. His research questions whether these tools can improve access to learning and support teaching. The overall approach is to promote language learning for all students in a primary classroom, in an inclusive perspective.
Thierry is currently PI of two funded projects concerning 1) the testing of an adaptive learning platform and 2) the development of a game targeting mathematical reasoning with a statement generator and intelligent feedback.

Thierry teaches several courses for the Bachelor en Sciences de l’Education (Bachelor Professionnel) and the Bachelor en Formation Pédagogique (Bachelor Professionnel). They are mainly related to the teaching and learning of French in pre- and primary school (French as a language of instruction, i.e. L1 or second language or foreign language).

Before joining the University of Luxembourg, Thierry worked at the University of Teacher Education of Fribourg (HEP FR, Switzerland) as a full HEP professor of French linguistics and didactics (2014-2025). He was head of the PL&M (Pluralité du Langage & des Médias) research unit. Previously, he worked as a teacher and then as a director in several primary schools around Grenoble (France) (1996 – 2011) and as an assistant at the Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maitres in Grenoble (2010-2014).

Thierry studied linguistics and didactics at the University of Grenoble Alpes in France, after first studying physics. He wrote his thesis “Vers le contrôle orthographique au cycle 3 de l’école primaire – Analyses psycholinguistiques et propositions didactiques” under the supervision of Prof. Dr Catherine Brissaud.